Leaders urge avoiding ‘Oppression Olympics’
Before friction between black and brown communities in Chicago gets more out of hand, African American and Hispanic elected officials gathered on the West Side on Thursday to plead for unity in the wake of the brutal death of George Floyd.
Senate Majority Leader Kimberly Lightford, D-Maywood, said there was no point for either group “to stand here and fight each other for crumbs — for crumbs. None of us win if we are too busy competing in the Oppression Olympics instead of focusing on getting our fair share.”
Lightford plus other black and brown city, state and congressional leaders — all Democrats — gathered outside the aptly named Healing Temple Church of God in Christ, 4941 W. Chicago Ave., on a hot day to turn down the heat.
They came together as protests continue in Chicago and other cities because Floyd, an African American, died after a white Minneapolis police officer pinned him down with his knee for 8 minutes and 46 seconds.
Looters, exploiting peaceful demonstrations, ransacked stores around the city and in some suburbs, destroying the lives and livelihoods of small-business owners who may not have the resources to reopen, especially if they were drained of cash because of the COVID-19 shutdown.
Once again, we’re at a place we’ve been: organizing after a horrible death of an African American involving a white police officer who chose to use excessive force when there were alternative ways to respond. The officers on the scene who watched while Floyd died have also been charged. All four have been fired.
This comes while we are stretched as never before, trying to cope with the COVID-19 calamity — shining a light on white privilege while exposing black and brown disparities in terms of infections, deaths and economic impact.
The Chicago Sun-Times reported Thursday that some gang members were among the residents guarding local businesses, leading to racial profiling and incidents in Pilsen, Little Village and some other communities, raising racial tensions. The headline on Marlen Garcia’s Sun-Times column said, “African Americans, Latinos must unite in fight against racism.”
On Thursday, they tried, led by U.S. Reps. Danny Davis, who is black, and Jesus “Chuy” Garcia, who represents the only Hispanic congressional district in Illinois.
“We know that friction has been developing between black and Latino citizens, residents and street organizations,” Davis said.
“We plead with our young people. We understand your pain and frustration. But we plead with you, with every fiber of our being, let’s not violate each other. Let’s not fight, but let’s unite,” Davis said.
Garcia said, “We need to study our history and appreciate over 400 years of slavery, Jim Crow and institutional white supremacy and institutions in America.
“We are at a crossroads. And we must find common ground. Let me be clear, our path forward must be centered from, and with, our unity.” This unity “is essential if we are to progress, as a nation and as a community here in Chicago and in Illinois.
“No single piece of legislation can bring back the countless innocent lives lost or erase the legacy of racism, but we must demand concrete reform to end police brutality and dismantle a racist criminal justice system; and we will, we must make sure that cops fired for violent offenses can never be rehired anywhere,” Garcia said.
Davis and Garcia are looking for millions of dollars of “new” government money to help black and brown neighborhoods, struggling already because of the pandemic.
The office of Ald. Emma Mitts (37th) is down the street from the Healing Temple. “We are intertwined with each other throughout the city of Chicago. Black and brown are living side by side,” she said.
There is no reason to fight over crumbs. Said Mitts, “We don’t need no division right now.”